1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system security, and more particularly to adaptive integrity validation for portable information handling systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are typically built from a variety of components that cooperate to process information. As the capabilities of information handling system components have improved over time, information handling system manufacturers have packed an increasing amount of processing capability in ever smaller housings. For example, information handling systems have transitioned from stationary desktop configurations to portable laptop configurations. A typical laptop information handling system operates in much the same manner as a desktop information handling system but also includes an integrated display, keyboard, battery and wireless network interface so that the laptop information handling system functions free of any wired connections. Many end users have come to appreciate the convenience of laptop information handling systems and have adopted laptop systems as replacements for desktop systems. More recently, laptop information handling systems have transitioned into tablet and smartphone configurations that provide even greater portability than clamshell-type laptop configurations since the tablet and smartphone configurations typically do not include a physical keyboard. Instead, tablet and smartphone information handling systems generally include a touchscreen that presents a keyboard through which an end user can input information.
Tablet and smartphone information handling systems provide increased portability and are typically used most often to consume information rather than create information. For instance, tablet information handling systems have a relatively small form factor that allows an end user to rapidly power up the system and access information through publicly-available wireless networks. Through the course of a day, an end user might access information through multiple Wi-Fi (WLAN) and wireless wide area networks (WWAN). A tablet information handling system provides a convenient tool for web browsing, document review and e-mail reading; however, if an end user needs to write a document or reply to an e-mail, touchscreen keyboards of tablet information handling systems can prove awkward. Often, end users will use a more conventional laptop information handling system with an integrated keyboard when document creation tasks arise. Alternatively, an end user may interface a peripheral keyboard with a tablet information handling system to input information for document creation. Even when a tablet information handling system uses a keyboard peripheral, tablet information handling systems typically have more limited processing and memory resources than laptop or desktop systems that provide a slower user experience for complex document creation tasks.
One difficulty with using all types of information handling systems is the danger presented by viruses and malware that cause damage to and sometimes steal information stored on an information handling system. Conventional information handling systems typically include virus and malware detection capabilities that scan information stored on an information handling system and remove malicious software when detected. Typical virus and malware protection software runs in the background at an information handling system to scan for known malware, virus, trojan horse and other types of malicious code. For example, anti-virus software performs threat updates and threat scans at scheduled times, such as system boot or initialization of resources in a static manner. Generally, conventional information handling systems experience minimal impacts from the operation of virus and malware protection software. In contrast, tablet information handling systems lack the processing resources and internal power storage to support processing for active malware scanning in the same manner as more powerful laptop and desktop information handling systems. Continuous scanning for malware and viruses can impact the usability of a tablet system by slowing other tasks and reducing battery life.